John F. Kennedy's Presidency [1 ed.] 9781467786003, 9781467779272

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REBECCA ROWELL

LERNER PUBLICATIONS

MINNEAPOLIS

Copyright © 2016 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review. Lerner Publications Company A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. 241 First Avenue North Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA For reading levels and more information, look up this title at www.lernerbooks.com. Main body text set in Caecilia LT Std 9.5/15. Typeface provided by Adobe Systems. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rowell, Rebecca. John F. Kennedy’s presidency / Rebecca Rowell. pages cm — (Presidential powerhouses) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4677-7927-2 (lb : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4677-8600-3 (eb pdf)  1. Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917–1963—Juvenile literature. 2. Presidents—United States—Biography—Juvenile literature. 3. United States—Politics and government—1961–1963— Juvenile literature. I. Title. E842.Z9R68 2016 973.922092—dc23 2015013836 Manufactured in the United States of America 1 – CG – 12/31/15

Table of Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Chapter One

A Future President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Chapter Two

The Soviet Union and Vietnam . . . . . . . . 20 Chapter Three

A Divided Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Chapter Four

Relations with Cuba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Chapter Five

The Space Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Chapter Six

A New Frontier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Chapter Seven

Civil Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Chapter Eight

Loss and Legacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Source Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Selected Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Further Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Introduction

T

he crisis began in late 1962, when the United States made an alarming discovery not far from its southeastern shores. President John F. Kennedy learned on October 16

that the small island nation of Cuba was building missile bases. A US pilot had snapped photographs of the construction while flying high overhead. The revelation was cause for concern because Cuba lay less than 100 miles (161 kilometers) from

A nuclear warhead bunker was under construction in San CristÓbal, Cuba, in October 1962.

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US soil. And its leader, Fidel Castro, was a Communist dictator and an ally of the Soviet Union (fifteen republics that included Russia), a major enemy of the United States. Kennedy had little doubt that the Soviet Union was providing nuclear missiles and other weapons to Cuba. The missile bases under construction in Cuba

Fidel Castro became the dictator of Cuba in 1959.

were evidence of a Soviet plan that threatened the lives of Americans—and

ultimately everyone on the planet. The photographs revealed a variety of Soviet weapons at the Cuban facilities. Soviet supplies included parts to create bomber aircraft too, which had the flying capability to reach cities in Florida, including Miami and Jacksonville. But the Soviet Union supplied Cuba with more than weaponry and aircraft—more than forty thousand Soviet troops were stationed on the island as well. The superpower was ready to fight the United States from Cuba. Kennedy and his staff debated how best to respond. To avoid alarming Americans unnecessarily, the president initially chose not to publicly share information about the Cuban missiles. When he met with Soviet diplomat Andrei Gromyko on October 18 to discuss Soviet aid to Cuba, Kennedy kept his knowledge about the missiles to himself—though he did remind Gromyko

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John F. Kennedy signs a blockade order in October 1962 to prevent Soviet ships from landing in Cuba.

that the United States would not tolerate Soviet offensive arms on the island. On October 20, Kennedy decided to quarantine the island. US ships would create a blockade to keep Soviet ships from reaching Cuba. Kennedy wrote a letter to Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union, stating his intentions and declaring that the United States would stand its ground: “The United States is determined that this threat . . . be removed. At the same time, I wish to point out that the action we are taking is the minimum necessary to remove the threat to the security of the nations of this hemisphere. . . . I hope that your Government will refrain from any action which would widen or deepen this already grave crisis and that we can agree to resume the path of peaceful negotiations.”

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The Cuban Missile Crisis had put the world on the brink of nuclear war, and Kennedy was taking a massive gamble in the hope of preventing conflict. His efforts would prove successful, but the showdown with Cuba was only one of several defining moments in Kennedy’s iconic presidency.

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CHAPTER ONE

A

FUTURE

PRESIDENT J

ohn Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston. He was the second of nine children—four boys and five girls—born

to Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy and Joseph Patrick Kennedy. The Kennedy family was Irish, Catholic, and wealthy, and it had a political history. Rose’s father, John Francis Fitzgerald, was once the mayor of Boston. Young Kennedy was named for his grandfather but went by the nickname Jack. As a child, Jack was sickly. At various times, he suffered from chicken pox, measles, scarlet fever, and whooping cough. The scarlet fever put him in the hospital for a month when he was three years old. When he was thirteen, Jack began suffering from pain in his midsection. A few years later, doctors diagnosed the problem as colitis, a digestive disease. These early experiences foreshadowed the state of health Jack would have for the rest of his life.

Growing Up Kennedy Being a Kennedy came with privileges and challenges. As part of a wealthy family, Jack grew up in a large home, with housekeepers and nannies. The Kennedys also had a summer home in Hyannis Port on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where family

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The Kennedy family at their summer home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, in 1931. From left to right: Robert, John (Jack), Eunice, Jean, Joseph Sr., Rose, Patricia, Kathleen, Joseph Jr., and Rosemary.

members enjoyed sailing, swimming, and playing touch football. Jack had plenty of siblings to play with, but in the Kennedy family, even play was taken seriously. Jack’s father, Joseph Kennedy Sr., pushed his children to be competitive, particularly his sons. On one occasion, he suggested his oldest sons, Joe and Jack, have a bicycle race. They did—and had a head-on collision that resulted in Jack getting twenty-eight stitches. For the elder Kennedy, doing well in sports was not enough. The determined and successful businessman wanted his boys to succeed at everything they tried. Jack enjoyed history and English, but he was not a top student in other subjects. In 1936 he enrolled at Harvard University, where his older brother, Joe, was already a student. While Kennedy was at Harvard, his father was appointed ambassador to the United Kingdom, and the rest of the family moved there. Kennedy took several trips overseas

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Kennedy’s Poor Health Poor health plagued Kennedy throughout his life. In 1937 doctors prescribed steroids for his chronic abdominal pain caused by colitis. The medication led Kennedy to develop osteoporosis, a weakening of the bones, in Jack’s lower back. He began experiencing back pain in 1940 and had his first back surgery in 1944, but the pain continued. Kennedy also had Addison’s disease, which affects the adrenal glands. Some of its effects are weight loss, weakness, and low blood pressure. Kennedy tried to combat his many medical issues with medication, including painkillers for his back, testosterone to help him gain weight, and a sleep aid. During his presidency, he took up to twelve medications each day. One doctor, Hans Kraus, told the president that the painkiller injections in his back could do more harm than good. Kraus warned, “You are going to end up in a wheelchair. You won’t be able to walk.” Yet the terrible pain spurred Kennedy to continue using pain medication.

to visit his family and to tour other European nations. The experiences sparked his interest in government and history. He also kept up on current events, especially European politics. While his father was an ambassador, Kennedy learned about the political unrest in Europe that would soon lead to World War II (1939–1945). For his senior thesis, Kennedy explained his thoughts on how Britain had not been ready to fight Germany in the war. His thesis was published as the book Why England Slept in 1940, the same year he graduated from Harvard. It went on to become a best seller.

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Fighting in World War II In 1941, shortly after Kennedy graduated from college, the United States entered World War II, fighting against Germany and Japan. Jack and his older brother both joined the US Navy. While Joe flew fighter planes in Europe, Jack commanded PT-109, a patrol torpedo (PT) boat, in the South Pacific. On the night of August 2, 1943, while on patrol, Kennedy and his twelve-man crew happened upon a Japanese destroyer ship that rammed into and tore through their PT boat. The attack killed two crewmen, sent some overboard, and injured others, including Kennedy, who hurt his already-injured back. Kennedy found an injured crewman in the water and got him to a floating chunk of the destroyed boat. Along with other survivors, they

Kennedy (far right) and the crewmen of PT-109 were attacked by a Japanese ship while on patrol in August 1943. Following the incident, the surviving crew were stranded on a nearby island for nearly a week.

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clung to the wreckage until the next morning and then swam to a nearby island. Six days later, two islanders found the Americans and went for help. US soldiers on other PTs rescued Kennedy and his surviving crew the next day. Kennedy received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his handling of the dangerous situation and became a war hero. But the war also brought personal tragedy to Kennedy’s life. A year after his experience on PT-109, Joe was killed during a mission. His brother’s death changed Kennedy’s ideas about his future.

Entering Politics When the war ended in 1945, Kennedy needed to decide on a career. At one time, he had thought about pursuing teaching or writing. Joe, on the other hand, had aspired to become a politician, a plan his father had strongly encouraged. The elder Kennedy had served as a member of government groups and as an ambassador. The Kennedy patriarch had even considered running for president of the United States in the 1940 election. However, his isolationist views during the war and President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s decision to run for another term, which he was likely to win, ended the elder Kennedy’s aspirations for the presidency. Instead, Kennedy had groomed his eldest son for a political career. After Joe’s death, his father focused his political ambitions on Jack. Partly to honor his deceased brother, the younger Kennedy decided to pursue politics. A personal interest in political matters also inspired Kennedy’s political aspirations. Kennedy once stated that he could have gone to law school after returning from the war and gone on to become a lawyer. But about working in law, Kennedy said, “Can you tell me that that compares in interest with being a member of Congress [and] trying to write

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a labor bill, or trying to make a speech on foreign policy? I just think that there’s no comparison.” In 1946 Kennedy won his first election, running as a Democrat for a seat in the US House of Representatives. He was reelected twice and served as a representative for six years. In 1952 he won a seat in the US Senate. Soon afterward, on September 12, 1953, he married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, who was known simply as Jackie. It was a lavish wedding in Newport, Rhode Island. Twelve years younger than her husband, Jackie came from a wealthy New England family and worked as a writer and photographer for the Washington Times‑Herald. The young, pretty socialite and the new politician made an attractive couple. Four years later, daughter Caroline was born. Becoming a husband and a father did not slow Kennedy down in his career. He was popular enough that Democratic Party leaders almost Kennedy sits below a campaign poster in September 1946. He ran for a seat in the US House of Representatives.

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chose him as their vice presidential candidate in 1956.

Jackie Kennedy Jackie Kennedy is often remembered for her iconic fashion sense and style, but Jackie also used her position as First Lady to focus on substantial projects, including restoring the White House. In addition to making the White House a home for her family, she wanted the landmark to reflect its history. Most of the building’s furnishings were fairly new, dating from no earlier than 1948. But Jackie longed to bring history back to the White House. She wanted the building to showcase its past, including the people who had lived there before she did. To achieve her goal, Jackie gathered specialists in historic preservation and decorative arts to form the Fine Arts Committee for the White House. With the experts’ help, she restored all the public rooms in the building, making it a living historical museum for the people. She acquired art and furniture from across the nation, including some pieces from former residents. Jackie also founded the White House Historical Association to create the White House’s first official guidebook, The

White House: An Historic Guide. Profits from selling the book then funded the restoration project.

As First Lady, Jackie Kennedy worked to restore the White House.

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Kennedy’s continued success in getting elected and his popularity helped him decide to pursue the presidency in the 1960 election. He announced his candidacy on January 2, 1960, saying, “The presidency is the most powerful office in the Free World. Through its leadership can come a more vital life for our people. In it are centered the hopes of the globe around us for freedom and a more secure life. For it is in the Executive Branch that the most crucial decisions of this century must be made in the next four years.” To gain support, he traveled around the nation giving speeches and meeting with top Democrats. His efforts paid off on July 13, 1960, when the Democratic Party nominated Kennedy as its candidate for president. He accepted the nomination and asked Texas senator Lyndon B. Johnson to be his running mate. Kennedy’s choice of a running mate was a strategic one. Johnson had been Kennedy’s rival for the presidential nomination. Putting him on the ticket would appeal to Democratic voters who preferred him to Kennedy. As a Texan, Johnson would attract voters in the South, where Kennedy’s base of support was weakest. Johnson also had a reputation as a tough and shrewd politician. At the Democratic convention, Pennsylvania governor David L. Lawrence nominated Johnson as the vice presidential candidate, claiming the senator from Texas was the “strongest Democratic leader in the history of the United States.” A series of televised debates against his Republican opponent, Richard M. Nixon, worked to Kennedy’s advantage. He understood the importance of television as a newer and broadreaching source of information to the American public. Nixon, who had just had knee surgery, looked thin, sweaty, and pale, while Kennedy seemed vibrant, calm, and confident. Kennedy spoke to the camera as if speaking to the American public, while Nixon spoke to Kennedy, adhering to a traditional debating style.

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Kennedy and Richard Nixon (right) participate in a televised debate on October 7, 1960. It was the first time in history that a presidential debate was televised for a national audience.

The national audience felt that Kennedy had won the debates, and it may have been what won him the election too. On November 8, 1960, Kennedy won one of the closest presidential elections in history by just 118,550 of the popular vote. At fortythree years old, he was the youngest president ever elected, as well as the first to be born in the twentieth century. He was also the first Catholic president. A few weeks later, Kennedy became a father for the second time. His son, John F. Kennedy Jr., was born on November 25. Kennedy’s family would prove popular with the American public and central to his image. Jackie would gain popularity in her own right, particularly for her sense of style and support of the arts. Kennedy became the thirty-fifth president of the United States on January 20, 1961. The new national leader inspired Americans with his inaugural address: “Let the word go forth from this time and place to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud

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The First Catholic President Until Kennedy’s victory in the 1960 presidential election, no other Catholic had been elected to the office. Previous presidents had followed Protestant branches of Christianity. Some Americans were concerned about Kennedy’s faith. They worried that Kennedy would let the pope, the supreme leader of the Catholic Church, drive his decisions as president. Kennedy addressed the issue of his faith at the Democratic National Convention on July 15, 1960, when he accepted his party’s nomination for the presidency. Kennedy stressed that his Catholicism wouldn’t influence his political outlook: “It is not relevant what pressures, if any, might conceivably be brought to bear on me. I am telling you now what you are entitled to know: that my decisions on any public policy will be my own—as an American, a Democrat, and a free man.”

of our ancient heritage—and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.” Behind Kennedy’s words was a strong commitment to tackling delicate international affairs as well as poverty and racial inequality at home. As president he would work to improve the lives of Americans and make the United States a stronger nation in the world.

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CHAPTER TWO

SOVIET UNION AND

THE

VIETNAM I

nternational affairs during Kennedy’s time in office had a dominant theme: the Cold War (1945–1991). In the decades following World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union

had emerged as superpowers. Each was determined to exert influence over other countries throughout the world. These ambitions made the two nations bitter adversaries. Theirs was a battle of deeply contrasting government and economic systems. The Soviet Union had a Communist government and economic system, while the United States had a democratic government and a capitalist economy. Each nation set out to prove that its form of government, its economic system, and its society were better than the other’s. The two countries constantly challenged each other. Their rivalry primarily took the form of words, though it also played out in science, the arts, and on battlefields around the globe. During the late 1940s, the Soviet Union expanded its power in Europe, taking over Eastern European nations, including Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Albania. As the reach of the Soviet Union continued growing, the United States

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focused on containing Communism to prevent it from spreading to more countries around the globe. Many Americans feared the spread of Communism, believing it threatened the basic principles of democracy. This anti-Communist sentiment spread to US foreign policy. For Kennedy, that affected US relations with Vietnam, Germany, and Cuba.

Cold war EUROPE ICELAND

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RW AY NO

UNITED KINGDOM

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DENMARK NETHERLANDS

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WEST GERMANY

FRANCE

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POLAND HO

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Western Bloc countries Eastern Bloc countries

Mediterranean Sea

Nonaligned countries

This map shows the political division of Europe during the Cold War. The Eastern Bloc countries were under the Communist influence of the Soviet Union. The Western Bloc countries were allies of the United States.

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Capitalism versus Communism During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union had distinctly different governments and economies. In the United States’ democratic government, citizens elect their leaders from various political parties. In the Soviet Union’s Communist government, leaders were also elected, but in a Communist system, a single political party often dominates and political dissent is not tolerated. This was the case in the Soviet Union, which had a strong central government that held strict control over many aspects of Soviet society. The US capitalist economy is based on private ownership of businesses. Supply and demand dictates the prices and production of goods. If demand is high, production increases to fill that demand. Individuals retain the profits made from their businesses. In the Soviet Union, the economy was controlled by the Communist government. The government owned businesses and factories and dictated wages, what was produced, and the prices of goods. Theoretically, profits in a govermentcontrolled economy are shared equally among the country’s citizens, eliminating the gap between rich and poor. But in practice, this system often leads to shortages of goods, as predicted needs fall below the actual needs of society.

The Arms Race The Soviet Union’s expansion into Eastern Europe was a clear show of military force, but the superpower sent an even stronger signal of aggression by stockpiling nuclear weapons. The United States had been the first country to develop a nuclear bomb

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and the only country to use one against an enemy nation. Two US attacks on Japanese cities in August of 1945 had helped end World War II—and had killed hundreds of thousands of people. A single nuclear weapon has unmatched destructive power, and possessing this type of weapon made the United States an even more powerful world force. The Soviets wanted to be equally powerful and quickly sought to develop nuclear weapons, starting a nuclear arms race between the two superpowers. The Soviets succeeded in building a nuclear weapon and held their first nuclear test in 1949. By the end of 1956, long before Kennedy was president, the Soviet Union had 84 nuclear missiles, but that was a mere fraction of the United States’ 2,123 nuclear weapons. Kennedy was well aware of the risk of nuclear war, which would be catastrophic. Newer atomic bombs were considerably more powerful than the first ones dropped in Japan. Those not killed by a direct impact would face fallout, the radiation that resulted from a nuclear explosion. Radiation can cause a variety of health issues, including radiation sickness, burns, and cancer. It can also contaminate the soil, water, and other natural resources. Kennedy knew that if the Soviet Union launched a nuclear attack on the United States, radiation would pose the greatest threat to the most people. So on July 20, 1961, the president signed Executive Order 10952, which put the Defense Department in charge of a national fallout shelter plan. Kennedy urged the secretary of defense to expedite such a plan. Fallout shelters are underground rooms designed to protect those inside from the hazardous radiation fallout after a nuclear explosion. Kennedy wanted public fallout shelters in churches, office buildings, and similar public places to accommodate large numbers of people. It was a plan that would cost approximately $300 million to accomplish. Kennedy also wanted a communications system to warn Americans about

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nuclear attack, emergency support for local and state officials if nuclear war occurred, and guidelines for keeping some form of the federal government operating after an attack. Even with these precautions, a nuclear conflict promised to involve a huge loss of life. To prevent such a scenario, Kennedy would have to develop a broader strategy. Initially, Kennedy’s goal was to end the arms race. That would mean halting the construction of new nuclear weapons and disarming some existing weapons. Kennedy thought Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev—who was more willing to talk to the United States than his predecessor, Joseph Stalin—might be willing to work toward the same goal. Kennedy and Khrushchev discussed the issue at a meeting in Vienna, Austria, in June 1961. The talks did not go as Kennedy had hoped. Khrushchev was less than cooperative, and the summit did not result in disarmament. Kennedy said to Hugh Sidey, a reporter for Time magazine, “I never met a man like this. [I] talked about how a nuclear exchange would kill 70 million people in ten minutes, and he just looked at me as if to say ‘So what?’ ” The Soviet Union continued conducting nuclear tests. Late that year, the Soviets tested the biggest nuclear bomb in history: 58 megatons, or 58 million tons (53 million metric tons). The bomb had four thousand times more power than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. Kennedy continued to hope for a worldwide ban on testing. On March 2, 1962, Kennedy took to the airwaves to explain his position, saying, “For all the awesome responsibilities entrusted to this office, none is more somber to contemplate than the special statutory authority to employ nuclear weapons in the defense of our people and freedom.” For Kennedy, testing was needed to keep up the nation’s defenses, but he stressed, “It is our hope and prayer that these . . . deadly weapons will never be fired.”

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Kennedy meets with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev at the US Embassy in Vienna, Austria, on June 3, 1961. The two leaders discussed nuclear weapon disarmament and the threat of nuclear war.

That night, after his speech, Kennedy attended a dinner at the White House. Kennedy arrived late and was clearly stressed by the nuclear-testing situation. Sitting next to his friend Red Fay, Kennedy expressed his concern about nuclear arms. The president told Fay, “Ever since the longbow, when man has developed new weapons and stockpiled them, somebody has come along and used them. I don’t know how we can escape it with nuclear weapons.” With Kennedy’s approval, the United States resumed nuclear testing on April 25, 1962. After the summit in Vienna, Khrushchev spoke about Kennedy to members of the press. While he had been brusque with Kennedy, the elder statesman thought well of the young president. “When I first saw Kennedy,” he noted, “I said to myself: He looks even younger than I expected, like a college graduate, boyish. How could such a young man hold [his] own

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in international affairs? But after we had exchanged [a] few sentences on important matters, and as talks continued, I revised my original estimate. He is tough, very forthright, and extremely intelligent. I hope to meet him again, although he is not [an] easy man to talk to.” Though Kennedy had gained Khrushchev’s respect, relations between the superpowers were uneasy. By his second year in office, Kennedy would change his approach to Cold War policy. Instead of only advocating for peace and disarmament, the president started responding to Soviet threats with US threats and meeting shows of force with equal force.

Banning Nuclear Testing Two years after their first meeting in Vienna and after taking the world close to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy and Khrushchev revisited the possibility of banning nuclear testing. This time, the two leaders approached the subject on a more united front, communicating in private correspondence and discussing the terms of a ban. Kennedy took advantage of a speaking engagement at American University’s commencement on June 10, 1963, to mention the exchanges he had been having with Khrushchev. Kennedy asked those attending to examine their thoughts about peace, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War, saying, “If we cannot end our differences, at least we can help make the world a safe place for diversity.” Kennedy also shared that he, Khrushchev, and British prime minister Harold Macmillan had agreed to hold formal discussions about a ban on nuclear testing by their three nations. The president then explained that “the United States does not propose to conduct nuclear tests in the atmosphere so long as other states do not do so.” Khrushchev had the speech translated, broadcast, and printed for his people.

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Less than two months later, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain achieved a milestone in the arms race. On July 25, 1963, delegates from the three nations agreed to a nuclear test ban. That evening they initialed a preliminary agreement. On August 5, representatives met again in Moscow to The United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain signed this treaty banning nuclear weapons testing on August 5, 1963.

sign the treaty, called the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space, and

Under Water. The three countries agreed to stop testing nuclear weapons except in underground facilities, where the spread of radioactive fallout could not reach other countries. The treaty was the first of its kind. It did not end the arms race or the Cold War, but it demonstrated that opposing sides could find agreement on challenging topics.

Involvedwith Vietnam While Kennedy was able to finally reach an agreement with Khrushchev that limited the possibility of nuclear warfare, the United States was fighting the Soviet Union indirectly in South Vietnam in the Vietnam War (1957–1975).

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Communism in Vietnam The Southeast Asian countries of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos were collectively known as French Indochina and had once been part of France’s empire. After World War II, Vietnamese revolutionaries, led by a Communist organization called the Viet Minh, rebelled against the French government, sparking the French Indochina Wars (1946–1954). At the Geneva Conference of 1954, representatives from nine countries met to officially end the war and settle the fate of Indochina. The conference’s participants were a mix of Communist nations—such as the Soviet Union and China—and non-Communist nations, including the United States and its allies Great Britain and France. Both sides wanted influence in Southeast Asia. They compromised by dividing Vietnam into two countries. North Vietnam would be Communist. South Vietnam would be non-Communist. The split was intended as a temporary measure. Nationwide elections would be held in 1956 to set up a unified government for all of Vietnam. The US government supported South Vietnam’s non-Communist military government, led by Ngo Dinh Diem. When Diem chose not to hold elections in 1956, US leaders backed his decision, believing elections might result in the two Vietnams merging into a larger Communist state. For the United States, a divided Vietnam was preferable to a united, Communist Vietnam. After Diem refused to hold elections in South Vietnam, the Viet Cong attacked in the South. In the following years, the attacks intensified. It would lead to increasing US involvement in the 1960s and 1970s and, finally, to the country’s ultimate withdrawal from South Vietnam in 1973.

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Since 1954, the Southeast Asian country of Vietnam had been split into two separate nations. North Vietnam had a Communist government, while South Vietnam had a non-Communist dictatorship. South Vietnam’s government, led by Ngo Dinh Diem, was increasingly threatened by Communist rebels, the Viet Cong, who had support from North Vietnam.

Ngo Dinh Diem became the leader of South Vietnam in 1954.

In an effort to contain Communism in the region, the United States and several other nations in 1955 formed the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization. The other members included Australia, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Thailand. The group would serve as a defensive organization, ready to use military force against the region’s Communist powers. That year US president Dwight D. Eisenhower sent military and economic assistance to South Vietnam, including approximately seven hundred military personnel, but the support did little to change the situation. As Eisenhower’s successor, Kennedy inherited the Vietnam problem. In May 1961, he sent five hundred military members to South Vietnam, including advisers and Special Forces troops. That autumn he sent General Maxwell Taylor to South Vietnam to report on the actions of the Viet Cong. Taylor was the president’s top military adviser. Taylor told Kennedy to send thousands of US troops to help South Vietnam, while other advisers told

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Kennedy sent US troops to South Vietnam to train and advise their military in 1961. These South Vietnamese soldiers, trained by US Army Rangers, patrol for Viet Cong rebels.

the president he should not send troops. Eisenhower criticized Kennedy for his caution, which prompted others to accuse Kennedy of weakness in his handling of the Southeast Asia situation. By the end of the year, Kennedy had sent two thousand US troops to South Vietnam. Their role was to advise South Vietnamese leaders, not fight on their behalf. According to his brother Robert Kennedy, who served as US attorney general during Kennedy’s administration, “The President felt that he had a strong, overwhelming reason for being in Vietnam and that we should win the war in Vietnam. . . . If you lost Vietnam, I think everybody was quite clear that the rest of Southeast Asia would fall [to Communism].” Bit by bit, Diem and his government lost control. In addition to the Viet Cong attacks, corruption was also an issue. Diem gave government positions to family members and was suspicious of

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any nonrelatives in power. His brother led a system of bribes and payoffs, which controlled schools, businesses, newspapers, and government bureaus. Diem, a Catholic leader of a country with a population of mostly Buddhists, was also fiercely anti‑Buddhist. He ordered attacks on Buddhists and their temples. Hundreds of Buddhists were arrested and killed on his orders. Citizens protested in response. Kennedy was aware of Diem’s actions but still hoped to bolster Diem’s government against the rebels. The president sent more money and more military personnel to Vietnam, increasing the number of advisers to more than sixteen thousand. Kennedy also asked Diem to make changes to improve the situation, such as getting rid of corrupt government officials, but Diem ignored Kennedy’s requests. In September 1963, Kennedy spoke about the situation: In the final analysis, it is their war. They are the ones who have to win it or lose it. We can help them, we can give them equipment, we can send our men out there as advisers, but they have to win it, the people of Vietnam, against the Communists. . . . But I don’t agree with those who say we should withdraw. That would be a great mistake. . . . [The United States] made this effort to defend Europe [during World War II]. Now Europe is quite secure. We also have to participate—we may not like it—in the defense of Asia. Not long after this statement, on November 2, members of Diem’s military assassinated him in a coup. Kennedy debated on how to respond but would not have an opportunity to act during his presidency. Subsequent presidents would have to deal with Vietnam and the rise of Communism there. Kennedy would face Communism in other places in the world and confront the Soviet Union directly in critical standoffs.

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CHAPTER THREE

A

DIVIDED

GERMANY T

he Cold War, with its division between the Communist East and the democratic West, was perhaps most evident in Germany. During Kennedy’s first year in office, the

battle of ideologies took physical form with construction of the Berlin Wall. The structure divided the city of Berlin into two parts: East and West. After World War II, the Allied powers—the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union—had divided their defeated enemy, Germany, into four occupied zones. The Soviet Union controlled the eastern half, while the United States split the western half with its fellow democratic nations of Great Britain and France. Berlin, the capital of Germany, was located in the Soviet zone, but it was divided as well: the Soviets controlled East Berlin while France, Britain, and the United States controlled West Berlin. Many East Germans escaped to the democratic West Berlin. From there, they could find passage out of the country. The Soviet Union made no secret of its wish to control all of Berlin, and democratic leaders vowed to protect the western half of the city from a Soviet takeover. When Kennedy took office in January 1961, preventing a Soviet attack on West Berlin was one of his main priorities.

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A DIVIDED GERMANY Baltic Sea

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Germany and its capital of Berlin were divided into four occupied zones at the end of World War II.

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Vienna Summit During his June 1961 talks with Nikita Khrushchev, Kennedy addressed the issue of Germany and Berlin. Kennedy wanted people occupying the West to continue to be able to enter East Berlin. When World War II ended and the four allies divided the city, the Soviets agreed to such access. For Kennedy, this issue was not up for discussion. Khrushchev disagreed, believing that having US military personnel in West Berlin was a problem. Berlin’s location was far into East Germany, and the premier perceived its Allied occupation as a threat and a humiliation. The two men had very different personalities. Kennedy was refined and eloquent. Khrushchev was brusque and cantankerous. Kennedy’s smooth words did not win over the Soviet premier, who responded with a threat: he would put up a blockade around West Berlin, making it inaccessible to the Allies. The two did not reach an agreement on the issue. The following month, Kennedy responded to Khrushchev’s threat with a televised speech. He discussed the need for an increased military presence in Berlin: “So long as the communists insist that they are preparing to end . . . our rights in West Berlin and our commitments to its people, we must be prepared to defend those rights and those commitments. We will at times be ready to talk, if talk will help. But we must also be ready to resist with force, if force is used upon us. Either alone would fail. Together, they can serve the cause of freedom and peace.” Kennedy backed up his words by expanding military resources related to Berlin. He increased the number of intercontinental missiles, the number of army divisions and military reserves, and US air capabilities. The Soviets responded by quickly putting their leader’s threats into action. In a matter of weeks, the Soviets would close off East Berlin.

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East German refugees read newspapers about Kennedy’s address to the American people on July 25, 1961. In his speech, Kennedy discussed the growing conflict with the Soviet Union over the status of Berlin.

The Berlin Crisis While talk of a blockade simmered on the international stage, Germans had been fleeing East Berlin for West Berlin to escape Communism. In early August 1961, close to 1,700 refugees made their way across the border each day. On August 11 and 12, 2,662 people crossed the border between the two divisions of the city. On August 13, East Germany closed the border and constructed a barrier, first digging holes and then stretching barbed wire along the border. It was the beginning of the Berlin Wall. A few days later, after three East Germans drove a truck through the barbed wire wall, members of the Soviet Army constructed a concrete wall along part of the dividing line, about 100 yards (91 meters) behind the first barrier. The concrete wall was up to 15 feet (5 m) high in spots and had barbed wire along its top. The space between the first barrier and the second created a no man’s land. People trying to escape the Soviet side

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would become trapped in this space, where they were easy targets for border guards to shoot. Over nearly thirty years, several hundred people would die trying to cross the border. In the weeks following East Germany’s border closing, tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union continued to increase. The two governments exchanged statements accusing the other of wrongdoing. Meanwhile, Kennedy weighed possible countermoves to the Soviet threat. In response to a request from West Berlin mayor Willy Brandt, Kennedy increased the number of troops in Europe. By early September, US troops on the continent numbered 290,000, with most stationed in Germany. Berlin was in crisis. The two governments held discussions about the situation in early October, but they were fruitless. In late October, tensions increased dramatically when East German guards held a US official at the border. This action went against an agreement between the West and the Soviet Union that allowed US officials free access to East Berlin. US military police crossed the border and insisted the diplomat be allowed to travel. The East Germans submitted and cooperated, but the incident prompted a face-off between Soviet and US forces at Friedrichstrasse, a border crossing the Americans called Checkpoint Charlie. Tanks on each side aimed at the other, and the US contingent of six thousand troops was ready to fight. US officials were concerned about the situation and did not want to anger the Soviet government. Kennedy reached out to Khrushchev, who was receptive. Neither man wanted the situation to escalate any further. The president promised Khrushchev that the United States had no plans to attack East Berlin. In return, the premier granted officials and military members from the West access to East Berlin. After sixteen hours, the showdown ended because of Khrushchev’s order. Disaster was averted.

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Brandt’s Letter On August 16, 1961, three days after the East Germans and Soviets put up the first part of the Berlin Wall, Brandt pleaded for Kennedy’s help. Brandt asked that France, Britain, and the United States make a stronger presence in West Berlin and suggested they submit the issue of the Soviet Union’s actions in East Berlin to the United Nations for investigation. Kennedy responded to Brandt on August 18: “The measures taken by the Soviet Government and its puppets in East Berlin have caused revulsion here in America.” He then agreed to Brandt’s request for military reinforcements: “I myself have decided that the best immediate response is a significant reinforcement of the Western garrisons. The importance of this reinforcement is symbolic—but not symbolic only. We know that the Soviet Union continues to emphasize its demand for the removal of Allied protection from West Berlin. We believe that even a modest reinforcement will underline our rejection of this concept.”

Kennedy meets with West Berlin mayor Willy Brandt on March 13, 1961.

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Kennedy’s Visit Kennedy visited Frankfurt in West Germany on June 25, 1963, and assured Germans of the United States’ continued support, saying, “We will risk our cities to defend yours.” The following day, Kennedy visited West Berlin. More than one million Germans welcomed the president. Kennedy spoke near the Berlin Wall, where 150,000 West Berliners had gathered. The president had written much of his speech after rejecting an early draft by his speechwriters. He told the crowd, “Ich bin ein Berliner” (German for “I am a Berliner”), as a show of solidarity with the Germans. The speech marked a turning point in Kennedy’s approach to the Cold War. He focused on the people affected by the conflict, not merely on the rival nations’ military goals. Speaking to the Germans gathered on both sides of the wall, he emphasized that the realities of life in a Communist nation were vastly different from the lofty ideals preached by Communist leaders: There are many people in the world who really don’t understand, or say they don’t, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin. There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin. And there are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin. And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress . . . Let them come to Berlin. Kennedy stressed that only a free nation could thrive and expressed support for Germans who were struggling to achieve democracy. At the end of the speech, the crowd roared with excitement and approval as Kennedy proclaimed, “All free men,

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A crowd gathers to hear Kennedy (center) deliver a speech outside of Rathaus Schöneberg (West Berlin’s city hall) on June 26, 1963.

wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words Ich bin ein Berliner.” Kennedy’s visit and speech did not unite the city, but it united its people. The US president became very popular with Germans, and the trip was one of the most memorable of Kennedy’s presidency. It showed the Germans that the United States saw and understood the challenges Berliners faced in their split city. The crowd roared with excitement and approval. Later, the president commented privately to adviser and speechwriter Ted Sorenson, who had helped him craft the speech, “We’ll never have another day like this one as long as we live.”

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CHAPTER FOUR

RELATIONS WITH

CUBA

W

hile the Cold War created a clear division between East and West, Kennedy also viewed it as a North-South issue. Latin American nations, many of which had

unstable governments and suffered from economic strife, offered another easy foothold for Communism. In particular, the United States’ close neighbor, the Communist nation of Cuba, figured prominently in Kennedy’s presidency. Under the strict control of Fidel Castro, Cuba had become a Communist state and an ally of the Soviet Union. During Kennedy’s time in the Oval Office, the United States had two major incidents with Cuba. One resulted in the deaths of dozens of Cubans. The other put the world on the brink of nuclear war. Both were results of Kennedy’s efforts to fight the spread of Communism.

The Bay of Pigs Just after taking office, Kennedy faced a major decision. In March 1960, Kennedy’s predecessor, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, had approved a plan to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had devised the scheme. The CIA would provide military training to Cubans who had fled their homeland for the United States, and these Cubans would

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A group of Castro’s soldiers pose with an antiaircraft weapon they used during the Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961.

then invade the island nation. If the invasion was successful, the dictator would lose control of Cuba and be replaced with a US‑friendly, non-Communist government. Kennedy learned about the operation before he took office. Eisenhower had approved the training plan in March 1960. By the time Kennedy was elected that November, the CIA had prepared a group of fourteen hundred Cuban exiles for attack. Kennedy gave them permission to invade, but he wanted to keep the United States’ involvement in the invasion a secret so the Soviet Union would not take the action as a declaration of war and fight back against the United States. For that reason, the exile rebels would land at the Bay of Pigs, an out-of-the-way location on the island’s southern coast where there would be little Cuban resistance and where the invading exiles would not be seen. Theoretically, Castro’s forces would not be there, but the location presented a challenge. If something went wrong with the landing, invaders would have to trudge more than 80 miles (129 km) to seek shelter in the Escambray Mountains.

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Cuban Refugees When Castro took over Cuba, many Cubans fled the country and headed to Florida seeking refuge. In 1960 President Eisenhower provided some government assistance to the refugees in the form of aid to local relief agencies, providing job opportunities, offering resettlement funds, ensuring adequate health care, and meeting educational needs. The US population of Cuban refugees continued to grow, and when Kennedy took office, he saw that the new residents needed more aid. He authorized the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act in 1962, which extended the benefits offered through Eisenhower.

Cuban refugees line up to register for aid in Florida in March 1961. Many Cubans traveled to the United States seeking asylum from Castro’s dictatorship.

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The plan had multiple parts. First, two air strikes would hit Cuban air bases. Then the exiles would head to the Bay of Pigs. Paratroopers would land and secure roads, taking them over and hampering travel by any Cuban fighters. Meanwhile, a smaller group of fighters would arrive on the eastern coast to confuse Castro. While that was happening, the primary force of exiles would make their way inland and prepare to attack. At the same time, leaders from a Cuban reform group in Florida would head to Cuba to set up a temporary government. If residents of the island joined their returning revolutionaries, the CIA’s plan would likely succeed. Mistakes happened from the start. On April 15, 1961, the first air strike hit few of its targets on airfields. Castro knew about the planned attack and had moved his planes. Cubans took photographs of the eight B-26 bombers the CIA had employed for the attack. The CIA had painted them to look like Cuban planes, but the maneuver did not work. The design of the planes revealed US involvement, which Kennedy had hoped to avoid. He called off the second air strike but did not stop the exiles from heading to Cuba. On April 17, the force of fourteen hundred rebels landed at the Bay of Pigs. Castro sent twenty thousand soldiers to the beach while Cuban fighter planes attacked from above. The rebels tried to stand their ground, but they did not have enough ammunition. Poor weather made their situation even more difficult. Kennedy dispatched six fighter planes on April 19 to help, but Castro’s army shot them down. By the end of the day, the Cubans ended the invasion. More than one hundred rebels were dead, almost twelve hundred rebels surrendered, and the rest escaped. After the rebels surrendered, Kennedy told an adviser, “I have had two full days of hell. . . . I haven’t slept—this has been the most excruciating period of my life. I doubt my presidency could survive another catastrophe like this.”

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Alliance for Progress In the years leading up to Kennedy’s presidency, the relations between the United States and Latin American nations had weakened. Kennedy wanted to improve the situation, especially with Communist Cuba so close to home. He proposed the Alliance for Progress, an economic aid program that would loan member nations more than $20 billion. It would be the biggest program of its kind. The Latin American nations taking part could use the money to focus on social reform and democracy. Goals included improving income levels, speeding up advances in agriculture and industry, and bettering welfare. Kennedy said the program was “a vast cooperative effort . . . to satisfy the basic needs of the [Latin] American people for homes, work and land, health, and schools.”

Kennedy meets with representatives from Latin American countries as part of the Alliance for Progress in August 1963.

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In August 1961, Kennedy and diplomats from nineteen Latin American nations, excluding Cuba, met in Uruguay. The politicians signaled their commitment to Kennedy’s idea by signing the Alliance for Progress. The program led to the construction of new hospitals, schools, airports, and other structures in Latin America. In the long run, though, the program did not meet many of its goals and was considered to be a failure by the early 1970s. In 1973 the United States stopped funding the program.

Kennedy joins President Alberto Lleras Camargo (center right) at a ceremony for a new construction project in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1961. The Alliance for Progress built new homes and schools at the site.

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A group of captured Cuban rebels are lined up by Castro’s soldiers after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961.

Cuba held the captured rebels in its prisons for twenty months. A Cuban court had sentenced them to up to thirty years in prison. However, if the United States paid $62 million, Cuba would free the exiles. But instead Castro agreed to release them in exchange for much-needed baby food and medicine worth $53 million. Robert Kennedy, who was the US attorney general, reached out to baby food companies and pharmaceutical makers for donations. The deal almost did not happen when Castro changed his demands and called for an additional $2.9 million at the last minute. Robert Kennedy and General Lucius D. Clay, an adviser to the prisoners’ families, worked quickly to get the additional funds. But before the captured rebels returned to their adopted homeland, another major event would happen that would risk the safety of the entire world.

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The Cuban Missile Crisis In October 1962, eighteen months after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, the United States and Cuba were embroiled in another conflict. This time, Cuba was a secondary player—a tool of the Soviet Union. The discovery of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba presented Kennedy with a deeply difficult decision. If the United States attacked Cuba to destroy the missiles, the Soviet Union could respond by attacking the United States—or, more likely, West Berlin, which was within range of its nuclear missiles. The result would be a nuclear war. But if Kennedy did nothing, the Cuban missiles could be launched in an attack on the United States. This too would start a nuclear war.

Operation Mongoose The failure of the Bay of Pigs operation did not end hopes of US government officials to topple Castro’s regime. US attorney general Robert Kennedy had become the head man for dealing with the issue of Cuba. Just months after the short-lived invasion, he wrote, “We will take action against Castro. It might be tomorrow, it might be in five days or ten days, or not for months. But it will come.” He planned a covert operation, code-named Mongoose, with the goal of removing Castro from power, perhaps even by assassination. The endeavor was costly. The director of the CIA spent millions of dollars on people and equipment to establish a spy base in Miami, Florida. But with few contacts actually in Cuba, the spy network could gather very little information. The operation was another failure.

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ATLANTIC OCEAN

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CARIBBEAN SEA

The United States devised this plan to attack Cuba to destory the nuclear missiles stored on the island. But the plan was never enacted. Kennedy was able to resolve the situation through political negotiations instead.

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Kennedy chose a middle ground by approving a plan for the US Navy to quarantine Cuba. This quarantine would keep other Soviet weapons and military reinforcements from reaching Cuba—and send a message to the Soviet Union. Khrushchev responded by positioning Soviet submarines in the area. “You, Mr. President, are not declaring a quarantine,” Khrushchev wrote to Kennedy on October 24, “but rather are setting forth an ultimatum and threatening that if we do not give in to your demands you will use force.” As the standoff continued, Kennedy ordered preparations for an air strike on Cuba but looked for another way to resolve the situation. Both leaders knew the catastrophic results nuclear war would cause. On October 25, Kennedy wrote to Khrushchev, asking him to restore their relations and not go to war. The next day, Khrushchev sent Kennedy a long letter saying the Soviets would take the missiles out of Cuba if the United States promised to never invade the island nation. The day after that, however, Khrushchev backed away from his offer. In a final desperate effort, Kennedy secretly offered to pull US missiles out of Turkey in exchange for the removal of the Cuban missiles. Finally, on October 28, Khrushchev and Kennedy came to an agreement. The Soviet Union would remove its weapons from Cuba. In return, the United States would not invade Cuba. And six months later, the United States would remove its missiles from Turkey. After thirteen extremely tense days, the Cuban Missile Crisis had finally ended. But the arms race with the Soviet Union would continue. Moreover, relations with Cuba were deeply strained and would remain that way for decades.

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CHAPTER FIVE

THE

SPACE

RACE

W

hile John F. Kennedy spent considerable time and energy on containing Communism and keeping peace, he also sought to promote his country’s interests in

other ways. One was his goal of taking the United States into a new era through space exploration. Initially, the president planned to scrap the relatively young US space program, but after the Soviet Union began making great strides in space travel, Kennedy changed his mind. He decided the United States needed to prove itself equal if not superior to its Communist foe in this new endeavor. For leaders of both countries, the space race was a matter of national pride that reflected on the overall success of their societies. It was also a matter of national security. A nation that mastered spaceflight could theoretically launch attacks on other nations from outer space. During Kennedy’s presidency, space became yet another battleground in the Cold War.

Building the Space Program The race to successfully travel into space began in 1957, well before Kennedy became president. On October 4, the Soviet Union achieved a major victory by successfully launching the

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satellite Sputnik 1 to orbit Earth. The United States responded with its own success a few months later, sending the satellite Explorer 1 into space. That same year, the US government established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This new federal agency set to work on Project Mercury, aiming to send a man into space. But when Kennedy was elected, he was not fully supportive of these plans. He questioned the validity of funding the space program rather than spending that government money on other projects. And on November 21, 1960, just after Kennedy won the presidential election, a NASA rocket launch failed miserably. Kennedy’s poor opinion of the project was confirmed.

The Explorer 1 satellite launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January 31, 1958. It was the first American satellite launched into space.

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Seeing Sputnik When Sputnik entered Earth’s orbit, people on Earth could listen for its radio signal—a chirping intermittent beep—as the satellite passed overhead. Under the right conditions, people could even see it speed across the sky. In the United States, its presence set off feelings of insecurity across the nation about US technology. Americans were worried that the Soviets were becoming more advanced than them. The national priority switched to advancing science, technology, and engineering. Funding for scientific and technological research and development increased dramatically. It sparked the creation of many new technological advancements, including the Internet. It also eventually led the United States to send a man to the moon. While it was a struggle to get there, the journey to the moon resulted in a newly invigorated confidence in the United States’ ability to innovate.

The Soviet Union launched Sputnik into orbit in 1957.

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He proposed disbanding the National Aeronautics and Space Council, an intermediary group between the president and NASA. Kennedy did not follow through with that suggestion, but he did remove himself as the head of the council, wanting nothing to do with the role. The following year, though, his position on the matter of space changed drastically.

The Challenge On April 12, 1961, the Soviet space program sent Yury Gagarin into space aboard the Vostok 1. The craft circled the planet once, and then the cosmonaut returned safely to Earth. The Soviets’ success at conquering space challenged the global power of the United States. Two days later, Kennedy met with his space advisers, eager to find some way for the United States to surpass the Soviet Union’s achievements. “Now, let’s look at this,” he said to his team. “Is there any place we can catch them? What can we do? Can we leapfrog?” A scientist from NASA, Hugh Dryden, explained that the United States could possibly get a man on the moon, but it would cost $20 billion, which was more than Kennedy expected.

Cosmonaut Yury Gagarin became the first man in space on April 12, 1961.

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“Can’t you fellows invent some other race here on earth that will do some good?” he asked in frustration. But Kennedy remained determined to push ahead with the program. He told those in attendance that the United States had to match the Soviets: “There’s nothing more important.” Kennedy would take the cause to Congress six weeks later, but first the United States would have its own success in space. On May 5, a few weeks after Gagarin’s historic trip around the planet, Alan Shepard became the first US astronaut to travel into space. Shepard took a fifteen-minute spaceflight aboard the Freedom 7. Americans nationwide, including Kennedy, watched

The first American manned spacecraft, Freedom 7, launched on May 5, 1961.

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Collaborating to Reach the Moon While Kennedy saw his goal for landing on the moon as an opportunity to beat the Soviet Union in the space race, the president also saw it as a chance for the two superpowers to collaborate. As early as 1961, when he met with Khrushchev in Vienna, Kennedy proposed that the two nations combine their efforts to get a man on the moon. The Soviet premier declined. Over the next two years, the balance of power between the two sides began to shift. The United States matched the Soviet Union in its development of technology and military resources. And when tensions surfaced in Berlin and Cuba, Khrushchev backed down rather than start a war. Two months later, the president met with James Webb, the head of NASA. Kennedy told Webb to expedite a proposal for the collaboration the president wanted, but Kennedy’s partnership idea would die with him ten days later.

the historic event on television. Shepard united Americans in a new and exciting way. His success provided just the boost the nation needed after the Soviets’ early space achievements. Kennedy honored Shepard on May 8, 1961, in a ceremony at the White House. The president presented the history-making astronaut with NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal. Kennedy said of Shepard, “His flight as the first United States astronaut was an outstanding contribution to the advancement of human knowledge of space technology, and a demonstration of man’s capabilities in sub-orbital space flight.” Kennedy submitted his goal for the space program to Congress on May 25. He requested massive funding—$7 billion

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to $9 billion over the next five years—for the US space program. “This nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth,” he said. The funding was approved, and NASA’s yearly budget increased by close to 90 percent immediately and by 101 percent the following year. With newfound support from the president, NASA moved forward. It quickly made history with its achievements.

Glenn Orbits Earth Nine months after Kennedy asked Congress to fund the space program, NASA proved its ability to meet the president’s high hopes. On February 20, 1962, John Glenn Jr. became the first US astronaut to orbit Earth three times. When Glenn returned from his 81,000-mile (130,357-km) trip, the president greeted him at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Kennedy examined Glenn’s space capsule, Friendship 7, peering inside with great interest. Kennedy said to the astronaut, who had become an instant national hero for his feat,

John Glenn Jr. was one of the original astronauts in Project Mercury. He became the first man to orbit Earth in 1962.

“This is a new ocean, and I believe America must sail upon it.”

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Kennedy peers inside the Friendship 7 space capsule after its return to Earth in February 1962. Astronaut John Glenn looks on.

Kennedy knew that the United States’ success in space represented a challenge to Soviet influence and ideology. He wanted the United States to land on the moon by the end of the decade. In a matter of months, Kennedy had gone from being uninterested in space to being the leading proponent for US space exploration, and his support would prove invaluable to NASA’s work. He helped make the United States an active participant in the space race. Before the 1960s ended, Americans would walk on the moon, as Kennedy had hoped.

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CHAPTER SIX

A

NEW

FRONTIER T

hough Kennedy was often occupied with international issues, he also had a variety of domestic issues on his mind when he took office. He was concerned with the

effects of population growth: overcrowded schools, populated suburbs, and worsening inner city slums. He worried that many elderly Americans did not have medical care. And he noticed that miners and textile workers were without work as new machinery replaced workers. After noting at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in his

speech accepting the nomination for president that “some would say . . . that all the horizons have been explored . . . that there is no longer an American frontier,” Kennedy presented a different idea: “For the problems are not all solved and the battles are not all won—and we stand today on the edge of a New Frontier—the frontier of the 1960s—a frontier of unknown opportunities and perils—a frontier of unfulfilled hopes and threats.” This New Frontier would become the cornerstone of Kennedy’s campaign and, once elected, his administration. His main ambitions included increasing the minimum wage and social security benefits, providing health care for seniors, boosting education funding, forming a federal department to focus on

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urban issues, and helping the government better deal with economic slowdowns. Kennedy worked hard to push through his reforms in Congress but often compromised on the legislation.

Strengthening the Economy Kennedy took office at an economically difficult time. The nation was in a recession and businesses were struggling, suffering from the highest rate of bankruptcies since the Great Depression (1929–1942). Many Americans were struggling to make ends meet, with 5.5 million unemployed. The president addressed the economic issues just days after taking office, in his first State of the Union address, on January 30, 1961. Speaking to the members of Congress and the American people, he acknowledged bluntly, “The American economy is in trouble.” A few days after that speech, on February 2, Kennedy introduced a plan to Congress with several measures to improve the nation’s economic situation. The plan included increasing the minimum wage of $1.00 per hour to $1.15 immediately and within two years to $1.25 and broadening unemployment benefits. Increasing the budget for Kennedy delivers his first State of the Union address before Congress on January 30, 1961.

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building highways was another provision aimed at boosting the economy,

which would create new jobs. By the end of 1961, these measures went into effect and helped to dramatically improve the economy. The nation was no longer in a recession.

Employment Measures Kennedy addressed multiple employment-related issues during his time in office. Some projects focused on specific groups of Americans. One of Kennedy’s first acts regarding employment was related to civil rights. During his election campaign, Kennedy had assured African American leaders that he would quickly address employment discrimination once elected. On March 6, 1961, the president signed Executive Order 10925, which ensured that federal contractors provide equal opportunity employment and pledge to be nondiscriminatory in their hiring practices. Failure to do so would lead to penalties. Less than two months later, on May 1, Kennedy signed into law a bill designed to help struggling cities across the nation with funding to attract businesses and train unemployed people. The law allocated $394 million to the program. Later that year, in November, Kennedy concentrated on the nation’s young people. He created the President’s Committee on Youth Employment because he was “particularly disturbed over the serious plight of the nearly one million out-of-school and out-of-work youth.” In March 1962, the president signed the Manpower Development and Training Act. Kennedy said the law would enable “the training of hundreds of thousands of workers who are denied employment because they do not possess the skills required by our constantly changing economy.” The president also highlighted women in multiple efforts, including establishing a committee to explore women’s rights. He also made it illegal for companies to pay women less than

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men for doing the same job when he signed the Equal Pay Act on June 10, 1963.

Helping the Needy Kennedy championed other programs to help Americans in need. On February 2, 1961, he signed an executive order to create a food stamp program. The aid expanded the program in place at the time, which provided struggling families with flour, dried milk, and other government surplus food that had been stockpiled for aid to other countries. With the new program, recipients could use food stamps to purchase a wider variety of food. The president also launched an initiative to expand Social Security, a federal program that provided economic security for those unable to work or who had retired. Kennedy appeared before Congress and proposed increasing taxes to fund Social Security and broaden its offerings, including increasing the monthly payment for retirees from thirty-three dollars to forty‑three dollars and offering more retirement benefits. The president also asked for disability benefits for insured workers who had been completely disabled for six months.

A woman pays with food stamps at a grocery store in 1961.

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Reviving US Cities In the early 1960s, cities across the United States were falling into decay. Neighborhoods emptied as many white Americans moved to the growing suburbs surrounding urban centers. Manufacturers moved their plants to cheaper areas outside of cities, where labor costs also fell. Often left behind were African Americans who had relied on the good-paying jobs those manufacturers once offered. Many urban neighborhoods rapidly declined. Riots broke out in cities across the country as people protested against employment discrimination and the terrible urban conditions. Homes were burned and destroyed by the riots and violence that erupted, convincing many more whites to flee to the suburbs. On March 9, 1961, Kennedy revealed to Congress his plan to revive cities, including providing housing for people with low

Rubble and trash surround this neglected block in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1960. Urban cities fell into disrepair as many middle class citizens moved to the suburbs in the 1960s.

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and middle incomes. He explained, “Our communities are what we make them. We as a nation have before us the opportunity—and the responsibility—to remodel our cities, to improve our patterns of community development, and to provide for the housing needs of all segments of our population. Meeting these goals will contribute to the nation’s economic recovery and its long-term economic growth.” On June 30, Kennedy signed the Housing Act, which would provide billions of dollars for such measures. The law established funding for cities that included $2 billion for improving slums and redeveloping cities, $1.2 billion for college housing, $200 million for rural housing, and $75 million for senior housing. In addition, $450 million was set aside for cities to upgrade sewers, water systems, and similar infrastructure that help cities function. Another $50 million went to cities to improve transportation.

Kennedy signs the Housing Act of 1961 at his desk in the Oval Office.

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A week later, in a special message to Congress, Kennedy pushed for health-care coverage for Americans aged sixty-five and older. The president’s plan consisted of several points that would make such care affordable to seniors, such as charging only ten dollars per day for the first nine days of a ninety-day hospital stay, with insurance covering the remaining costs, including full coverage after the ninth day. And insurance would provide care in a nursing home for many months to patients upon leaving a hospital. Outpatients would get help too. They would pay only twenty dollars for tests. Insurance would cover the remainder of the expenses. Kennedy’s proposal included other measures, such as providing funds for building nursing homes, scholarships to students studying medicine or dentistry, and grants to pay for building medical and dental schools.

Helping Thosewith Special Needs Other aspects of health care also became priorities for the president. On October 11, 1961, Kennedy told reporters he was going to name “a panel of outstanding scientists, doctors, and others” to study intellectual disabilities (called mental retardation in the 1960s). Kennedy explained, “The central problems of cause and prevention remain unsolved, and I believe that we as a country, in association with scientists all over the world, should make a comprehensive attack.” At the time, little was understood about intellectual disabilities, and few medical personnel and teachers had the knowledge or training to help those with such challenges. Many people with intellectual disabilities were confined to institutions, which were often overcrowded and understaffed. Living in these facilities kept residents away from their families and prevented them from participating in many activities.

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The issue was a personal one for the president. According to the Kennedy family, his sister Rosemary had been born with intellectual disabilities. Using the work of his Panel on Mental Retardation as a guide, Kennedy pushed for new legislation focused on intellectual disabilities. On October 24, 1963, he signed the Maternal and Child Health and Mental

Rosemary Kennedy (center) was born with intellectual disabilities. She stands with her sister Jean and brother John in this 1940 photo.

Retardation Planning Amendment to the Social Security Act to help prevent intellectual disabilities through maternity and infant health care. A week later, Kennedy signed the Mental Retardation and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act of 1963. This law was designed to finance facilities focused on preventing, caring for, and treating people with intellectual disabilities. In addition, the legislation provided more money to train educators who work with children with intellectual and physical disabilities.

Cutting Taxes The new measures Kennedy authorized helped the US economy enough to get it out of a recession, but he was not completely satisfied with the nation’s financial situation. At 6.8 percent, unemployment was high, and the stock market, which sold and traded public shares of companies, was not strong. The economy

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was not very active and showed signs of struggling. Kennedy considered how this situation might affect his bid for a second term as president. Inflation and unemployment might lead the United States into another recession in late 1963 or early 1964, which might influence voters to elect someone else into office. At the urging of Walter Heller, his lead economic adviser, Kennedy proposed a new plan for helping the economy: tax cuts. Lower personal income taxes would mean Americans would have more money to spend, and that would help businesses, which would also benefit from corporate tax cuts. In 1963 Kennedy proposed tax cuts for individuals and businesses. He pushed Congress to slash individual taxes by almost one-third. His suggested cut for businesses was from 52 percent to 47 percent. He believed such cuts were essential to maintain the US economy’s upturn. Some politicians challenged Kennedy’s plan. They believed that more action was needed and that the president should also trim government spending. Kennedy stood his ground, pushing for only the tax cuts. Kennedy continued to fight for tax cuts throughout the year. In September he told the nation via radio and television, “No more important legislation will come before the Congress this year than the bill before the House next week to reduce federal taxes.” Ultimately, Congress approved Kennedy’s tax cuts after his death in early 1964.

Education Reform Education became another important domestic project for the president. Earlier in 1963, Kennedy had reached out to the members of Congress about his plans for the nation’s education system, writing, “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education.”

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Supporting Education Kennedy’s support of education resulted in several laws, ranging from funding for teachers and students to financing buildings and more. The president signed his first education-based law on June 30, 1961. It provided millions of dollars for college housing. On May 1, 1962, Kennedy approved money for building educational television stations. Some laws focused on providing education for people with special needs. On September 22, Kennedy signed the Education of the Blind Act Amendment, which expanded the availability of books and other materials for the blind. That same day, he also approved a bill that would provide training for teachers of the deaf. Less than a week later, on September 28, a new law increased funding to caption films for the deaf from $250,000 to $1.25 million.

In his letter, Kennedy mentioned the population growth that had followed World War II. This baby boom meant that the United States had a growing number of schoolchildren. Kennedy noted that for the next decade, one million children would be starting school each year. Kennedy wanted money to provide good salaries to teachers and fund hundreds of thousands of classrooms to help meet students’ needs. He also wanted the federal government to help college students through funding for housing and financial aid. Kennedy repeated his plea to Congress a year later. In February 1962, he stressed how many Americans were dropping out of high school, not attending college after high school

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graduation, or dropping out of college. The result, he said, was that these Americans could not make “the maximum contribution of which they are capable to themselves, their families, their communities, and the Nation.” The president requested almost $6 billion for education. In addition to funding teacher salaries and new classrooms, Kennedy sought aid for specific educational fields, including medicine, dentistry, science, and engineering. He wanted the funding to support adult literacy programs and educational television, and he requested support for children with disabilities. Kennedy believed all Americans should have access to education. He said it was “a national investment” that would benefit the country as a whole, as well as “a basic benefit of a free and democratic civilization.”

Kennedy Center for the Arts Kennedy’s support of the arts lives on in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Kennedy spoke about art in a speech at Amherst College in October 1963. “If art is to nourish the roots of our culture,” he said, “society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him. We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.” The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts provides arts education and hosts performing arts events. Each year, through the Kennedy Center Honors, the center also awards artists for their dedication to the arts.

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In January 1963, Kennedy made another push for education funding, requesting $1.2 billion from Congress. In the National Education Improvement Act of 1963, Kennedy requested funding for a variety of initiatives, including personal loans for education, loans to schools to improve or build facilities, pay increases and training for teachers, and programs focused on special education and vocational training. Kennedy also recognized the importance of education to Americans as individuals. “Today we need a new standard of excellence in education,” he said to Congress, “matched by the fullest possible access to educational opportunities, enabling each citizen to develop his talents to the maximum possible extent.” As with his tax bill, the president would not live to see Congress pass his education bill. While Kennedy had many domestic goals for the United States, he had few successes. Many of the programs he hoped to create failed to come to fruition, but it did not stop his pushing for change.

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CHAPTER SEVEN

CIVIL

RIGHTS L

ong before Kennedy took office, African Americans across the country faced challenges because of their race. Segregation was widespread in many areas, and in southern states,

laws enforced the practice. Many public facilities kept African Americans separated from whites, and others were completely closed to African Americans. Schools were segregated, with African American schools often lacking funds and supplies. The justice system was often biased against African Americans, and in many areas, African American citizens were unable to vote. When Kennedy took office in January 1961, the national civil rights movement was well under way. Thousands of Americans, led by activists such as Martin Luther King Jr., had begun to protest racial segregation. The US Supreme Court had ruled in 1954 that segregation in public schools was illegal, but most all-white schools continued to shut out African American students. Many civil rights leaders believed that real change would require support from elected leaders, including the president of the United States. Kennedy was in favor of ending segregation, as was his brother Robert, the US attorney general. Robert Kennedy later remembered that the president strongly believed in the need for civil rights legislation: “It was never a question of sitting around

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Martin Luther King Jr. (center) led a series of protests in the 1960s calling for the end of racial segregation.

thinking, ‘Well, should we do it or shouldn’t we do it?’ because it was always quite clear that we would do it. And had to do it.” But to make progress toward that goal, the president would have to challenge southern politicians, including members of his own party who strongly opposed the civil rights movement.

A Slow Start While running for president in 1960, Kennedy claimed he would work to gain equal rights for African Americans. The goal was part of his New Frontier platform. Kennedy accused other government leaders of failing to address the issue. “A peaceful revolution for human rights—demanding an end to racial discrimination in all parts of our community life—has strained at the leashes imposed by timid executive leadership,” he said. Yet after taking office, Kennedy was slow to address issues of racial inequality. In March 1961, he took a small step by

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King’s Father Switches Support During the 1960 presidential campaign, Martin Luther King Sr., father of the civil rights leader, initially supported Kennedy’s opponent Richard Nixon. That changed after a little-publicized event. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia, during a nonviolent demonstration and sentenced to prison. He would serve four months of hard labor. Some of those close to King worried he might be killed while behind bars. Kennedy telephoned the imprisoned activist’s wife, Coretta Scott King, to show his support. Meanwhile, Robert Kennedy contacted the Georgia judge who had sentenced King and pressed for King’s release. The civil rights icon was free in a matter of days. The Kennedy brothers’ support for King prompted King’s father to change his mind about whom he wanted for president. He said of his support for Kennedy, “This man was willing to wipe the tears from my daughter[-inlaw]’s eyes. I’ve got a suitcase of votes, and I’m going to take them to Mr. Kennedy.”

issuing Executive Order 10925, an affirmative action law for federal contractors meant to stop discrimination in hiring for government work. However, Kennedy was reluctant to introduce any legislation that would deal with discrimination. Knowing the issue would divide his party—which included many prosegregation southern Democrats—Kennedy planned to wait until his second term as president before proposing new laws. Nevertheless, Kennedy had to deal with civil rights issues that arose during his first term. In 1962 he responded to a controversy in Mississippi. In the fall of that year, James Meredith, a young

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African American man, tried to enroll at the University of Mississippi, an all-white institution. The US Supreme Court had ordered Meredith be admitted to the school, but Ross Barnett, Mississippi’s governor, defied the ruling and blocked Meredith. The president called Barnett on September 22 to discuss the matter. A week later, on September 30, with the situation having worsened, Kennedy called Barnett again. Barnett wanted Kennedy to have Meredith removed from campus to ease the situation. Kennedy disagreed and told the governor, “How can I remove him, Governor, when there’s a riot in the street, and he may step out of that building and something might happen to him? I can’t remove him under those conditions.” Finally, Kennedy provided federal marshals to protect Meredith while he attempted to register. Segregationists met Meredith and the marshals, and a violent riot erupted. Two people died, and several

A crowd surrounds James Meredith (center) as he is escorted by federal marshals to register at the University of Mississippi in 1962.

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more were injured. Approximately thirty-one thousand troops occupied the campus during the crisis. Meredith successfully enrolled at the university, becoming its first African American student, and graduated in 1963.

Showdowns in Alabama Meanwhile, civil rights activism in the South was intensifying, with a bitter and often violent backlash from pro-segregationist white Americans. In spring 1963, Birmingham, Alabama, was at the center of the violence. King, who believed the city suffered the worst segregation in the nation, had been organizing protests there. On May 2, one thousand activists, including children, marched for civil rights. Six hundred were arrested that day, but marchers took to the streets again the next day, with more children joining their ranks. The city’s police officers attacked the children by shooting high-pressure water at them and letting loose some of the police force’s German shepherds. Journalists caught the event on film, and news stations broadcast some of the footage. Americans nationwide and others around the world were aghast at what they saw. An image of a police dog attacking a young African American boy deeply disturbed Kennedy. It “made him sick,” he said in a private meeting the next day. He also worried that the violence would reflect badly on the United States’ reputation with other countries. “It’s a dangerous situation for our image abroad,” he told Robert Kennedy. Burke Marshall, who served as assistant attorney general under Robert Kennedy, went to Birmingham to meet with representatives of the protesters and city. After a few days of discussion, he negotiated a deal between the two groups on May 10. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference would stop protesting and boycotting Birmingham businesses. In return, the city would desegregate public facilities and stores and also

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An African American teenager is attacked by police dogs during a civil rights march in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 3, 1963.

release the protesters it had put in jail. More violence erupted soon afterward, when segregationists planted bombs by King’s motel room and in his brother’s church. This time, Kennedy took decisive action. He put the US military on alert and took to the airwaves to condemn police actions in Birmingham. Even King, who had previously considered Kennedy too cautious on the issue, declared that Kennedy had “not only stepped up to the plate, he hit it over the fence!” The events in Birmingham were a turning point for Kennedy. After months of taking only a limited stand for civil rights, he admitted privately, “we have done not enough.” He and other leaders needed to make a real push for equality instead of urging African Americans to wait longer for change: “I’m not saying anyone ought to be patient.” Publicly, he made a bold and passionate case for civil rights legislation.

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Robert F. Kennedy Kennedy relied on his younger brother Robert as a staunch ally and political adviser. The younger Kennedy served as .

John Kennedy’s campaign manager when Kennedy ran for the US Senate in 1952 and the presidency in 1960. As president, Kennedy appointed Robert Kennedy US attorney general, the head of the Justice Department. He used his position to support the civil rights movement, though he later insisted that Kennedy was equally committed to the cause. “He didn’t have to have the attorney general call him and tell him what was bad and what was good,” he said. But Kennedy felt he couldn’t afford to anger southern Democrats by taking a strong public stand on the issue. Instead, he trusted Robert Kennedy to be a more outspoken advocate for reforms. Robert Kennedy also worked closely with the president on foreign affairs, especially issues in Cuba.

Robert F. Kennedy served as the US attorney general during his brother’s administration.

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The next month, another incident in Alabama tested Kennedy’s renewed dedication to civil rights reform. On June 11, two African American students, James Hood and Viviane Malone, attempted to register for classes at the University of Alabama. The state’s pro-segregation governor, George Wallace, showed up on the campus with a group of state troopers and blocked the students from entering. The governor was defying the US Supreme Court ruling that outlawed school segregation. Kennedy called in the Alabama National Guard and issued a presidential proclamation ordering Wallace to let the students register. The arrival of military personnel convinced Wallace to back down. That evening Kennedy reached out to Americans via radio and television. He asked members of Congress to pass legislation that would outlaw racial discrimination. In his address that night, Kennedy called upon all Americans, not only members of Congress. New laws would not be enough to improve the situation: “It is not enough to pin the blame on others, to say this is a problem of one section of the country or another, or deplore the fact that we face. A great change is at hand, and our task, our obligation, is to make that revolution, that change, peaceful and constructive for all.” One week after his face-off with Wallace, on June 19, the president sent a new civil rights bill to Congress. If passed, it would improve voting rights and support integration of schools and other public facilities. The bill also included measures to decrease unemployment for African Americans by creating jobs, providing job training, and ending discriminatory hiring practices. Kennedy’s proposal would not end the violence in the South or discrimination across the country. The fight for civil rights was far from over, but the president had taken his first concrete steps to support the movement. However, Kennedy would not live to see his bill become law.

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CHAPTER EIGHT

LOSS AND

LEGACY I

n late 1963, Kennedy was nearing the end of his third year in office. With his term almost 75 percent complete, he began focusing on running for reelection. He had not officially

announced that he would seek a second term as president, but his intentions were clear. In late September, he launched a speaking tour of the nation. In less than one week, he gave speeches in nine states, focusing on the importance of conserving natural resources. But he was doing more than promoting a single cause. Kennedy was also testing topics to highlight in his 1964 presidential campaign. Other items on his agenda included education, national security, and world peace. In October, Kennedy spoke to Democrats in Boston and Philadelphia. On November 12, he had a meeting with some of his staff to plan for his upcoming campaign. During the planning session, Kennedy made it clear that to win the general election, he would need to win Florida and Texas. So he planned to visit both states before the end of the month.

Kennedy’s Assassination On November 21, 1963, Kennedy headed to Texas. His main objective was to unite Texan leaders of the Democratic Party

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Kennedy speaks to a crowd during his Western conservation tour in Tacoma, Washington, in 1963.

who were at odds. A divided party could hurt Kennedy’s chances for winning the state in the 1964 presidential election. Kennedy planned to meet with two powerful rival Democrats, Governor John B. Connally and Senator Ralph Yarborough. The liberal Yarborough led the campaign against conservative Connally during the 1962 primary elections that almost led to the governor’s defeat. Kennedy and Jackie would visit five cities during their twoday trip: San Antonio, Houston, Fort Worth, Dallas, and Austin. The First Lady had been out of the public eye since August, when the Kennedys’ third child, baby Patrick, had died. As planned, the Kennedys stopped in San Antonio and Houston the first day. That night the president and his entourage arrived in Fort Worth.

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A large crowd gathered to hear Kennedy speak outside his hotel in Fort Worth, Texas, on November 22, 1963.

The next morning, November 22, the president spoke outside his hotel, addressing a crowd of thousands. He talked about issues affecting the nation, such as defense, the economy, and space exploration. Kennedy worked the crowd after speaking, shaking hands with some of those who had come to see him, and then he gave another speech in the hotel. Afterward, Kennedy traveled to Dallas, to continue spreading his message about his vision for the United States. At Dallas’s Love Field, the president met another welcoming crowd. The Kennedys left the airport in a car with Texas governor John Connally and his wife. The Connallys were in the front seat and the Kennedys were in the back. The convertible top was down for their 10-mile (16-km) trip through the city.

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As the convertible wound its way through Dallas, cheering Texans lined the streets to greet their president. Then, at approximately 12:30 p.m., gunfire rang out. An assassin shot at the president’s vehicle, hitting the president in the head and neck. The car rushed to Memorial Hospital, where doctors pronounced the president dead at 1:00 p.m. Less than two hours after Kennedy’s death, a judge swore in Lyndon B. Johnson as the new president of the United States. Leaders around the world gave their condolences, including Khrushchev, who sent a telegram to Johnson, saying, “John F. Kennedy’s death is a serious blow to all people who cherish the cause of peace and Soviet-American cooperation.”

Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as president aboard Air Force One shortly after Kennedy’s assassination, while Jackie Kennedy looks on.

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Camelot Kennedy’s time in office is often referred to as Camelot. The name refers to the legend of King Arthur’s court, where brave knights promoted peace and virtue. The media began referring to the Kennedy years as Camelot shortly after the president’s death. The reference came from Jackie, the president’s widow. In an interview for Life magazine the week after Kennedy’s death, she described how she and her husband often listened to a recording of the musical Camelot, which made its Broadway debut in 1960, before going to bed. In the musical, King Arthur sings, “Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief, shining moment, that was known as Camelot.” After quoting that line to the reporter, Jackie said, “There will be great presidents again, but there will never be another Camelot.”

John F. Kennedy Jr. salutes his father’s casket during the president’s funeral procession.

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Lee Harvey Oswald (center) was arrested for the assassination of Kennedy.

Lee Harvey Oswald, who worked in a building on the president’s route through Dallas, was arrested and then charged with the president’s assassination. As he was being transferred from the police station to jail on November 24, Oswald was shot and killed by nightclub owner Jack Ruby.

Kennedy’s Legacy Though Kennedy did not live to see the fulfillment of most of his policy plans, Johnson turned many of Kennedy’s New Frontier goals into reality. Less than a month after Kennedy’s assassination, on December 16, Johnson signed the Higher Education Facilities Act of 1963. The measure reflected Kennedy’s passion for education by approving funding for new classrooms for hundreds of thousands of students. It would also support new community colleges, graduate schools, and technical schools. Money would fund college libraries as well.

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Highest Average Approval Rating Since 1945 the research and analytics company Gallup has conducted an annual opinion poll to see what Americans think of the president of the United States. The presidential job approval rating varies throughout a president’s time in office. It tends to go up when the economy is good and down when the economy is poor. Other factors, such as conflict with other nations, also affect the rating. Of the presidents Gallup has tracked, Kennedy had the highest average approval rating of 70.1 percent.

Two months later, on February 26, 1964, Johnson approved the Revenue Act of 1964, which cut taxes as Kennedy had wanted. Kennedy’s prediction that cuts would aid economic growth proved correct. The United States experienced a boom in the 1960s as a result of the legislation. The national deficit decreased, and investment in the stock market increased. The cuts improved the economy and set a new standard for low taxes. Taxes have not returned to the high pre-Kennedy levels. That same year, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Johnson signed the bill on July 2. The legislation included measures protecting African Americans’ right to vote, making discrimination illegal in public places such as hotels and theaters, and prohibiting employment discrimination. The law also established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to address employment discrimination complaints. These were the first major strides that the US government took in support of the civil rights movement. Two years later, the

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As president, Johnson signed many bills that put Kennedy’s policy plans into action.

Voting Rights Act of 1965 would further strengthen support for African American equality. In July 1965, Johnson signed the law creating Medicare, a national health-care insurance program that fulfilled Kennedy’s goal to provide health insurance to elderly Americans. The program continues and serves millions of people aged sixty-five and older, as well as younger people with disabilities and some serious diseases. NASA achieved one of Kennedy’s most ambitious goals in July 1969. When astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin touched down on the moon, walked on its surfasce, and then returned safely with the rest of the Apollo 11 crew, the United States had fulfilled Kennedy’s dream of putting a

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Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the moon’s surface during the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969.

man on the moon by the end of the decade. NASA continues to explore space and advance space technology.

Echoes Abroad Kennedy’s concentration on foreign affairs affected the world. His continued focus on Communism and confronting the Soviet Union during the Cold War led to tension and narrowly averted disaster. Kennedy won over the Germans with his 1963 visit. They honored him later by changing the name of the location where he gave his “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech to John F. Kennedy Platz. Fifty years later, some of those who were there that June day in 1963 remembered the excitement of the president’s words. For West Berliners, Kennedy’s famous speech helped them understand they would have to fight for freedom and democracy.

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The Peace Corps Kennedy created the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961. The idea was not a new one. The Soviet Union had a similar program, but its goal was to spread Communism. Kennedy greeted the first group of Peace Corps volunteers in August. They headed to Africa to provide technical, educational, and social services to people in Ghana and Tanganyika (present-day Tanzania). Since the Peace Corps’ founding, approximately two hundred thousand Americans have served in 139 countries, volunteering in a variety of areas, including agriculture, business, education, environmental protection, and health.

Kennedy meets with Peace Corps volunteers in August 1962.

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The Cold War continued after Kennedy’s death and ultimately put hundreds of thousands of Americans at risk in Southeast Asia. Unrest in Vietnam and US involvement there continued well beyond Kennedy’s brief presidency. In 1965 Johnson authorized US military action in Vietnam, including air strikes on North Vietnam. It was the beginning of a long and highly controversial war. By 1968 more than five hundred thousand US military personnel were fighting in the war, and Americans were strongly split over whether the conflict was justified. Vietnam dominated Johnson’s presidency, eclipsing many of his domestic policies. The war dragged on for several more years and into the presidency of Johnson’s successor, Richard Nixon. In January 1973, Nixon ordered an end to all attacks against North Vietnam after officials finally settled on a peace agreement. The fighting ultimately failed to achieve Kennedy’s

The conflict in Vietnam continued after Kennedy’s death. In 1965 Johnson ordered additional US troops into military action.

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original goal of containing Communism. In January 1975, North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam and, a few months later, took over Saigon, South Vietnam’s capital. The remaining Americans escaped from the city, finally ending US involvement in the war. Millions of people had died by that time, including three million Vietnamese and fifty-eight thousand Americans. Eventually the Cold War ended. After decades of animosity and posturing between the United States and the Soviet Union, the late 1980s brought great change when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev made his government more democratic and reached out to the United States in the spirit of glasnost, the Russian word for “openness.” The idea behind the policy was to have open talks about political and social matters. Bit by bit, the superpower loosened its grip on Eastern Europe. In November 1989, the Berlin Wall opened, allowing free movement of people between the East and West. Then the wall was torn down. The Soviet Union continued to change until it fell apart in late 1991 and became fifteen new nations, including Russia. The Cold War was finally over.

Looking to the Future Kennedy once said, “When I ran for the Presidency of the United States . . . I couldn’t realize . . . how heavy and constant would be the burdens.” Some issues Kennedy contended with as president lasted well beyond Kennedy’s time in office and took many years to resolve, including the conflict in Vietnam and the Cold War. Other issues, such as civil rights, continue to challenge the United States and its leaders more than fifty years after Kennedy’s presidency. Kennedy may be most remembered for his youth and charisma. Because his time in office was short and incomplete, many of his contributions took the form of goals and ideals

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rather than concrete policy changes. Yet the causes he supported—education, equal pay for women, health care, urban renewal, and civil rights—drew strength from his faith in them. His influence extended to other nations as well through his push for nuclear disarmament, his handling of Cold War tensions, and his creation of the Peace Corps. During his 1,036 days in office, Kennedy strove to serve his country while juggling the challenges of politics. Perhaps more memorable than any of his work was the strength of the image he presented. Kennedy’s energy, idealism, and inspirational words gave Americans—and many others around the world— hope for a brighter future.

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Timeline

1917 John Fitzgerald Kennedy is born on May 29 in Brookline, Massachusetts.



1940 Kennedy publishes his book Why England Slept, on why Great Britain was not prepared to fight the Germans in World War II.



1943 Kennedy’s PT-109 is attacked by a Japanese destroyer ship on August 2 during World War II.

1946 Kennedy wins his first election to become a US congressman, the first of three terms in that office.



1952 Kennedy is elected a US senator.



1953 Kennedy marries Jacqueline Lee Bouvier on September 12.



1960 The Democratic Party nominates Kennedy as its candidate for US president on July 13; Kennedy accepts.

On November 8, Kennedy is elected president of the United States.

1961 Kennedy is inaugurated on January 20, becoming the thirty‑fifth president.

Kennedy creates the Peace Corps on March 1. Kennedy decides to support the US space program after the Soviet program sends Yury Gagarin into space. In mid-April, the Bay of Pigs invasion fails miserably.

1962 The Cuban Missile Crisis in October takes the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war.



1963 On June 11, Kennedy speaks to the American people about civil rights in a televised address.

Kennedy sends the Civil Rights Act of 1963 to Congress on June 19. On June 26, Kennedy delivers his “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech at the Berlin Wall. The Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space, and Under Water, which stops nuclear weapons testing except in underground facilities, is signed on August 5 by the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom. Kennedy dies from an assassin’s bullet on November 22.

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Source Notes

8



12

John F. Kennedy, “Letter from President Kennedy to Chairman Khrushchev, October 22, 1962,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed March 16, 2015, http://microsites .jfklibrary.org/cmc/oct22/doc4.html. “Interview: Robert Dallek,” The Kennedys: American Experience, accessed March 10, 2015, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh /americanexperience/features/interview/kennedys-dallek/.

14–15

Ted Widmer, ed., Listening In: The Secret White House Recordings of John F. Kennedy (New York: Hyperion, 2012), 29–30.



17

Christopher Matthews, Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 252.



17

W. H. Lawrence, “Johnson Is Nominated for Vice President; Kennedy Picks Him to Placate the South,” New York Times, July 15, 1960, http://partners.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp /600715convention-dem-ra.html.

18–19 John F. Kennedy, “Inaugural Address, 20 January 1961,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed October 5, 2014, http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer /BqXIEM9F4024ntFl7SVAjA.aspx.

19

John F. Kennedy, “1960 Democratic National Convention, 15 July 1960,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed October 4, 2014, http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer /AS08q5oYz0SFUZg9uOi4iw.aspx.



24

Scott W. Johnson, “The Kennedy-Khrushchev Conference for Dummies,” Weekly Standard, May 28, 2008, http://www .weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015 /149gqohu.asp.

24 Matthews, Jack Kennedy, 351. 24 Ibid. 25 Ibid. 25–26 “Telegram Relaying Khrushchev’s Comments about Meeting President Kennedy,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed March 2, 2015, http://www.jfklibrary.org /Asset-Viewer/cgU8XGfLtkGCbQhicsjlYA.aspx.

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26

“Nuclear Test Ban Treaty,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed May 20, 2015, http://www.jfklibrary.org /JFK/JFK-in-History/Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty.aspx?p=2.



26

“Commencement Address at American University, June 10, 1963,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed March 3, 2015, http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer /BWC7I4C9QUmLG9J6I8oy8w.aspx.



30

Robert F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy: In His Own Words (New York: Random House, 1989), 394–395.



31

“Vietnam,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed March 9, 2015, http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-inHistory/Vietnam.aspx.



34

“The Cold War in Berlin,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum,” accessed March 17, 2015, http://www.jfklibrary.org /JFK/JFK-in-History/The-Cold-War-in-Berlin.aspx.



37

“Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume XIV, Berlin Crisis, 1961–1962, Document 120,” US Department of State: Office of the Historian, accessed March 10, 2015, https://history .state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1961-63v14/d120#fn2



38

Terry Golway and Les Krantz, JFK Day by Day: A Chronicle of the 1,036 Days of John F. Kennedy’s Presidency (Lake Geneva, WI: Running Press, 2010), 236.



38

Christopher Matthews, Kennedy & Nixon: The Rivalry That Shaped Postwar America (New York: Simon & Schuster), 225.



38

“Remarks at the Rudolph Wilde Platz, Berlin,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed March 17, 2015, http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/oEX2uqSQGEGIdTYgd_ JL_Q.aspx.

38–39

Ibid.



39

Jason K. Duncan, John F. Kennedy: The Spirit of Cold War Liberalism (New York: Routledge, 2014), 107.



43

Michael O’Brien, John F. Kennedy: A Biography (New York: St. Martin’s, 2005), 532.

93



44

“Alliance for Progress (Alianza para el Progreso),” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed October 7, 2014, http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/Alliance-for -Progress.aspx.



47

“People & Events: Operation Mongoose: The Covert Operation to Remove Castro from Power,” PBS: American Experience, July 1, 2004, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rfk/peopleevents /e_mongoose.html.



49

“The World on the Brink: John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis: Day 9, Oct. 24,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed March 16, 2015, http://microsites.jfklibrary.org /cmc/oct24/ http://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/oct24/.



53

“John F. Kennedy and the Space Race,” White House Historical Association, accessed March 7, 2015, http://www .whitehousehistory.org/whha_classroom/classroom_9-12 -visionary-kennedy.html.

54 Ibid. 54 Ibid.

55

John F. Kennedy, “Remarks at the Presentation of NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal to Astronaut Alan B. Shepard,” The American Presidency Project, accessed May 18, 2015, http://www .presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8119.



56

“Space Program,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed March 7, 2015, http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK /JFK-in-History/Space-Program.aspx.



56

“John F. Kennedy and the Space Race,” White House Historical Association.



58

John F. Kennedy, “1960 Democratic National Convention, 15 July 1960,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed March 19, 2015, http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer /AS08q5oYz0SFUZg9uOi4iw.aspx.



59

Golway and Krantz, JFK Day by Day, 21.



60

Ibid., 89.

94



60

Ibid., 124.



63

Ibid., 29.



64

“JFK and People with Intellectual Disabilities,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed March 13, 2015, http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/JFK-and-People -with-Intellectual-Disabilities.aspx.

64 Ibid.

66

Golway and Krantz, JFK Day by Day, 256.



66

Ibid., 26.



68

John F. Kennedy, “Special Message to the Congress on Education, February 6, 1962,” The American Presidency Project, accessed August 28, 2015, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8858.



68

Golway and Krantz, JFK Day by Day, 114.



68

“Kennedy Center for the Arts,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed March 16, 2015, http://www .jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-Legacy/Kennedy-Center-for-the-Arts.aspx.



69

John F. Kennedy, “Special Message to the Congress on Education,” The American Presidency Project, accessed March 20, 2015, http:// www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=9487.

70–71 Philip A. Goduti Jr., Robert F. Kennedy and the Shaping of Civil Rights, 1960–1964 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2013), 3. 71 Ibid.

72

“The Kennedys and Civil Rights,” PBS: American Experience, accessed March 14, 2015, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh /americanexperience/features/general-article/kennedys-and -civil-rights/.



73

Martin W. Sandler, ed., The Letters of John F. Kennedy (New York: Bloomsbury, 2013), 225.



74

Jonathan Reider, “The Day President Kennedy Embraced Civil Rights-and the Story behind It,” Atlantic, June 11, 2013, http://www .theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/the-day-president -kennedy-embraced-civil-rights-and-the-story-behind-it/276749/.

95

75 Ibid. 75 Ibid. 75 Ibid. 76 Goduti, Robert F. Kennedy, 45.

77

John F. Kennedy, “Report to the American People,” JFK Presidential Library and Museum, accessed March 15, 2015, http://www .jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/LH8F_0Mzv0e6Ro1yEm74Ng.aspx.



81

Golway and Krantz, JFK Day by Day, 278.



82

Ben Zimmer, “Jackie Started the Legend of JFK ‘Camelot,’” Wall Street Journal, November 22, 2013.

88 Sandler, The Letters of John F. Kennedy, 228.

96

Glossary campaign: an organized effort to win the favor of voters and to be elected to a position cantankerous: grumpy or rude Cold War: the nonviolent battle of ideologies between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II colitis: a disease that causes inflammation and pain in the colon Communism: a social system in which the government owns and controls the production, public costs, and distribution of goods democracy: a government of the people, by the people, and for the people food stamps: government-issued coupons used by low-income people to purchase food fruition: to happen, to be realized, or to be created Great Depression: a period of economic trouble worldwide that lasted from 1929 to 1942 ideology: the beliefs of a political group isolationist: a person who believes in the policy that nations should not become politically involved with other nations osteoporosis: a disease that results in weak, brittle bones platform: the policies a political candidate declares while running for office recession: a period of decreased economic activity segregation: the forced separation of a race or class of people from other groups of people steroid: a medication that is similar to a substance that naturally occurs in the body and that decreases inflammation by limiting the immune system summit: one or more meetings between the leaders of at least two nations

97

Selected Bibliography Duncan, Jason K. John F. Kennedy: The Spirit of Cold War Liberalism. New York: Routledge, 2014. Golway, Terry, and Les Krantz. JFK Day by Day: A Chronicle of the 1,036 Days of John F. Kennedy’s Presidency. Lake Geneva, WI: Running Press, 2010. “John F. Kennedy (1917–1963).” Miller Center. Accessed March 19, 2015. http://millercenter.org/president/kennedy. “Life of John F. Kennedy.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Accessed February 26, 2015. http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/Life -of-John-F-Kennedy.aspx. Matthews, Christopher. Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011. O’Brien, Michael. John F. Kennedy: A Biography. New York: St. Martin’s, 2005. Reeves, Richard. The Kennedy Years: From the Pages of the New York Times. New York: Abrams, 2013.

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Further Information American Presidency Project http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/index.php Explore this site’s extensive archive of more than 110,000 documents to learn about Kennedy and other US presidents. American President: A Reference Resource http://millercenter.org/president Check out this University of Virginia website for information on the presidents, including Kennedy. First Kennedy-Nixon Debate, 26 September 1960 http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/TNC-172.aspx View the first presidential debate ever televised, which took place between Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Inaugural Address, 20 January 1961 http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/BqXIEM9F4024ntFl7SVAjA.aspx View this video of Kennedy giving his inaugural address, considered by some to be the best speech ever given by a president. John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site http://www.nps.gov/jofi/index.htm Explore this website companion to the historic site where Kennedy lived as a child to learn about the president through memories of his mother, Rose Kennedy. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum http://www.jfklibrary.org Check out this website dedicated to the life and presidency of Kennedy. Kaplan, Howard S. John F. Kennedy: A Photographic Story of a Life. New York: DK, 2004. This easy-to-read book tells the story of Kennedy, including his Irish background, and shows many pictures of the president. Landau, Elaine. Assassins, Traitors, and Spies. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 2013. Learn more about Kennedy’s assassination and other tragic events in US history in this book.

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The Legacy of President John F. Kennedy—50 Years Later http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/2013/11/the-legacy-of-president -john-f-kennedy-50-years-later Explore this educator resource developed fifty years after Kennedy’s death to honor the legacy of Kennedy. Schwartz, Simon. The Other Side of the Wall. Minneapolis: Graphic Universe, 2015. Read this graphic novel to discover what it was like to live inside East Berlin behind the Berlin Wall during the Cold War. Sommer, Shelley. John F. Kennedy: His Life and Legacy. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. Learn more about Kennedy’s life, presidency, and legacy with this easy‑reading book.

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Index African Americans, 60, 62, 70, 71, 73–75, 77, 84–85 Alliance for Progress, 44–45 Amherst College, 68

Distinguished Service Medal, 55 Dryden, Hugh, 53 economic measures, 59–60, 63 Revenue Act of 1964, 84 Social Security Act, 65 tax cuts, 66, 84 education reform, 66–69, 90 Education of the Blind Act Amendment, 67 Higher Education Facilities Act of 1963, 83 National Education Improvement Act, 69 Eisenhower, Dwight D., 29–30, 40–41, 42 employment measures, 60–61, 62, 84 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 84 Equal Pay Act, 61 Manpower Development and Training Act, 60 President’s Committee on Youth Employment, 60 Executive Order 10952, 23

Bay of Pigs invasion, 40–41, 43, 47 Camelot, 82 Castro, Fidel, 7, 40–41, 42, 43, 46, 47 Central Intelligence Agency, 40–41, 43, 47 civil rights, 60, 70–72, 74–75, 76, 77, 84, 89 Ross Barnett, 73 Birmingham march, 74–75 Civil Rights Act of 1964, 84 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 84 Executive Order 10925, 60, 72 James Hood, 77 Martin Luther King, Jr., 70–71, 72, 74–75 Viviane Malone, 77 James Meredith, 72–74 school integration, 77 Voting Rights Act of 1965, 85 Cold War, 20–21, 22, 26–27, 32, 38, 40, 50, 86, 88–89 Berlin Wall, 32, 35–36, 37, 38, 89 Willy Brandt, 36, 37 Checkpoint Charlie, 36 East Berlin, 32–33, 34, 35–36, 37 East Germany, 32–33, 34–36, 37 West Berlin, 32–33, 34–36, 37, 38–39, 47, 86 West Germany, 38–39 Connally, John B., 79–80 Cuban Missile Crisis, 6–9, 26, 47–49

Gagarin, Yury, 53, 54 Gorbachev, Mikhail, 89 Gromyko, Andrei, 7–8 Harvard University, 11–12 health care measures, 42, 58, 64, 90 Maternal and Child Healthy and Mental Retardation Planning Amendment, 65 Medicare, 85 Mental Retardation and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act, 65 Panel on Mental Retardation, 65

Democratic National Convention, 17, 19, 58

101

Heller, Walter, 66

Neil Armstrong, 85 Explorer 1, 51 Friendship 7, 56–57 John Glenn, Jr., 56–57 NASA, 51, 53, 55–57, 85–86 National Aeronautics and Space Council, 53 Project Mercury, 51 Alan Shepard, 54–55 Sputnik 1, 51, 52 Vostok 1, 53 Stalin, Joseph, 24

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 68 Johnson, Lyndon B., 17, 81, 83–85, 88 Kennedy, John F. assassination, 81, 83 childhood, 10–12 death, 66, 81, 82, 88 health, 10, 12, 13 legacy, 83–85 military service, 13–14 personal life, 15, 18, 19, 79 Kennedy Center Honors, 68 Khrushchev, Nikita, 8, 24–27, 34, 36, 49, 55, 81 Kraus, Hans, 12

urban revitalization, 59, 62–63, 90 US House of Representatives, 15 US Navy, 13, 49 US Senate, 15, 76 US Supreme Court, 70, 73, 77

Macmillan, Harold, 26 Marshall, Burke, 74

Vietnam War, 27–31, 88–89 Ngo Dinh Diem, 28, 29–31 French Indochina Wars, 28 Geneva Conference of 1954, 28 Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, 29 Maxwell Taylor, 29 Viet Cong, 28, 29–30 Viet Minh, 28

Navy and Marine Corps Medal, 14 New Frontier, 58, 71, 83 Nixon, Richard M., 17–18, 72, 88 nuclear weapons testing, 23–25 atomic bombs, 23–24 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space, and Under Water, 27

Wallace, George, 77 White House: An Historic Guide, The, 16 White House Fine Arts Committee, 16 White House Historical Association, 16 Why England Slept, 12 World War II, 12, 13, 20, 23, 28, 32, 34, 67

Peace Corps, 87, 90 PT-109, 13–14 Roosevelt, Franklin D., 14 Sidey, Hugh, 24 Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 74 space race, 50–57 Apollo 11, 85–86

Yarborough, Ralph, 79

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Photo Acknowledgments The images in this book are used with the permission of: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, pp. 1 (handwriting), 6, 11, 13, 25, 81, © Alfred Eisenstaedt/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images, p. 2; © iStockphoto.com/hudiemm (backgrounds); © iStockphoto.com/Nic_ Taylor (backgrounds); © iStockphoto.com/Phil Cardamone, p. 3 (bunting); Wikimedia Commons, p. 3 (signature); © Bettmann/CORBIS, pp. 7, 8, 53, 76; © Yale Joel/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images, p. 15; © Verner Reed/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images, p. 16; UPI/Newscom, p. 18; © Laura Westlund/Independent Picture Service, pp. 21, 33, 48; National Archives, pp. 27, 71, 88; © Everett Collection Inc/Alamy, p. 29; © John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images, p. 30; © CIA/flickr. com, p. 35; Library of Congress LC-USZ62-134151, p. 37; Robert L. Knudsen, Office of the Naval Aide to the President/John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, p. 39; © Graf/Getty Images, p. 41; © Michael Rougier/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images, p. 42; Cecil Stoughton, White House/John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston pp. 44, 45, 79, 80; © Three Lions/Getty Images, p. 46; © ullstein bild via Getty Images, p. 51; NASA, pp. 52, 54, 56, 57, 86; Arnie Sachs - CNP/ Newscom, p. 59; © Shel Hershorn/Hulton Archive/Getty Images, p. 61; © Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images, p. 62; Abbie Rowe, White House, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, p. 63; © New York Times Co./Getty Images, p. 65; © Buyenlarge/Getty Images, p. 73; AP Photo/Bill Hudson, p. 75; Cecil Stoughton, White House/ Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, p. 81; © Keystone/Getty Images, p. 82; © PhotoQuest/Getty Images, p. 85; Rowland Scherman, Peace Corps/John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, p. 87. Front cover: © SuperStock (portrait); Wikimedia Commons (signature); John F. Kennedy Library (handwriting); © iStockphoto.com/Phil Cardamone (flag bunting). Back cover: © iStockphoto.com/hudiemm (sunburst); © iStockphoto.com/ Nic_Taylor (parchment).

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About the Author Rebecca Rowell has authored several books for young readers. She has written about physics, weather and climate, wildfires, Switzerland, Iraq, and pioneer aviator Charles Lindbergh. One of her favorite parts of writing is doing research and learning about all kinds of subjects. She has a master of arts in publishing and writing from Emerson College and lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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When John F. Kennedy became the youngest person ever elected president of the United States, he stepped to the forefront of an invisible battleground. He took office in 1961, during the Cold War. This standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union threatened to lead to nuclear war and worldwide destruction. Kennedy also faced turmoil at home with the civil rights movement, where supporters of racial equality faced powerful resistance from politicians, law enforcement, and ordinary voters. Most Americans viewed Kennedy as an energetic, idealistic, young politician. In fact, the president struggled with chronic illnesses, and his lofty goals often faced strong opposition. Despite these difficulties, Kennedy worked to bring the United States into a “New Frontier.” He supported space exploration, the arts, education, and groundbreaking social programs. He took a controversial stand in favor of civil rights legislation, and he navigated a dangerous web of foreign affairs. In his short but eventful presidency, Kennedy inspired the nation with his hopes for the future and his efforts to make those hopes a reality.

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT’S PRESIDENCY

JAMES MADISON’S PRESIDENCY

GEORGE WASHINGTON’S PRESIDENCY

JOHN F. KENNEDY’S PRESIDENCY

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